Marketing Role within the Firm

Abstract

Consumer behaviour is determined by economic, psychological and sociological considerations. It is important to study non-economic buying motivations as these are present in the buying of industrial goods and services as well as in consumer purchases. The process of decision making may be long in duration, as is in the decision- making to buy a computer, or short as in the decision- making to buy a packet of sweets, but similar stages may be observed:

a general or a specific need is felt; a period of pre-buying activity follows, i.e. an investigation of sources of supply which might satisfy the need; a decision is taken (what to purchase, or even to make no purchase) based on the results of the pre-buying activity and the strength of the need.

The basic need may be either general, e.g. need of a change of environment. The more specific need may arise spontaneously or it may be stimulated by creative marketing. The basic need is for a collection of utilities / providing a psychological or social satisfaction and not for a product. Consequently, it is important that marketing programmes should be designed to identify goods or services giving satisfaction of a need.